Why is President Rodrigo Duterte taking so long to sign the bill on the “Bayanihan To Recover As One  Act” or Bayanihan 2 after he announced the necessity of its immediate enactment?

The Bayanihan 2 enrolled bill was received on August 27, 2020 by the Presidential Legislative Liaison Office (PLLO) for transmittal to the Office of the President five (5) days ago.

Although the P165.5-B appropriated under Bayanihan 2 is meager and already delayed as a response to the ongoing pandemic, the failure of the President to sign it into law further stalls the release of the miniscule relief to affected citizens and distressed businesses. 

The Duterte administration is culpable in not utilizing for the government’s response to the contagion the foreign and domestic borrowings availed of by the Philippines amounting to over a trillion pesos. 

It is amazing, as well as suspicious, why the foreign grants and loans from multilaterals as well as the local borrowings generated by the Bureau of the Treasury have not been used as funding sources for Bayanihan 2 in order to have a bigger and more adequate outlay.

EDCEL C. LAGMAN